Recharge Metals, Cosmos & King River
Brought to you by BULLS AND BEARS
Andrew Todd
Taurus is back on the menu, boys… and girls.
After a brief period of death-playing and over-the-top tech talk, the ASX has posted two straight weeks of gains, led by major miners, banks and Wall Street’s solid earnings buffet.
BHP’s copper arm overtook iron ore for the first time, generating 51 per cent of its revenue and helping its half-year profit come in at a strong US$5.6 billion (A$7.9 billion).
Goldies kill the pig; South African giant Goldfields is reportedly eyeing Western Australia’s consolidating gold sector from the top of its $2.5 billion cash mountain in the bank.
The US economy has become unexpectedly resilient; Business in January exceeded forecasts, prompting the White House to brag about “beating Biden’s inflation crisis”; The Fed’s minutes signaled a longer pause in interest rate cuts.
The US economic dream is still better than expected, pegging last year’s closing growth figures at a brisk 3.7 percent.
Factories are producing more, and the latest data shows businesses and consumers are still active. Hot inflation readings have prompted the Fed to shelve interest rate cut talk, while policymakers have signaled they need more solid evidence that price pressures are easing before lowering borrowing costs.
Perhaps the only thing slowing down the markets this week is the never-ending ego war between the US and Iran, and it looks like this war is finally going to boil over.
While the Islamic Republic of Iran is developing its military forces alongside Russia in the Strait of Hormuz, Trump is planning to attack.
The canal, which controls 20-25 per cent of world oil and gas trade, looks increasingly likely to be shut down for business and it is no surprise that oil is up 2 per cent on the week, with analysts warning crude prices could rise to $100 a barrel if war breaks out.
Our Runners recap this week was full of gold and a dash of lithium as a group of teenagers told their cool new projects and new exploration stories at the RIU explorers conference in Fremantle, Western Australia.
In a successful late finish, Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week powered Steven Bradbury to gold with a last-minute project purchase.
RECHARGE METALS LTD (ASX: REC)
123% increase (2.2c – 4.9c)
Ending the season on a big note, eponymous Bulls N’ Bears Runner of the Week Recharge Metals has signed a deal to snap up the Sunset Well gold project in the middle of Western Australia’s booming Leonora region.
The larger rental housing package covers 181 square kilometers and is located 10 km east of the town of Leonora and 100 km from seven operating gold processing facilities with good road access.
The prime WA real estate includes the flagship Prospero deposit, which currently packages a shallow resource of 2.87 million tonnes for 94,500 ounces at one gram per tonne (g/t) gold.
Despite its address, Recharge says no one has made a dent in the project since the 1990s. The gold in Prospero remains wide open throughout the beat and throughout the fall; The Prospero Cutting Zone stretches a lazy 10 kilometers across the strike and is filled with old drilling strikes that easily become upside targets in today’s gold price.
The company says only a handful of holes have gone below 100 meters during its tenure, making it promising for expansion and follow-up drilling.
Near-surface results included 36 m at 2.73 g/t gold from 32 m (including 16 m at 5.39 g/t gold from 36 m), while only a limited number of holes were tested below 100 m vertical depth, indicating extension potential.
Recharge secured $3.75 million through a companion placement and plans a $2 million pro rata rights issuance to fund all foreseeable drilling on the new project.
This acquisition allowed the company’s batteries to be easily charged in a location surrounded by some of the industry’s heavyweights.
COSMOS EXPLORATION LTD (ASX: C1X)
105% increase (8.1c – 16.5c)
Coming in second place for the week is South American lithium hopeful Cosmos Exploration, which has moved into the lithium big leagues through its private company EAU Lithium by partnering with state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) to develop industrial lithium production facilities for the country.
The proposed pathway is based on VULSORB Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology from big brother lithium player Vulcan Energy, which EAU has been exclusive to use in South America.
Already tested in brines from various salt deposits in Bolivia, DLE technology has the potential to unlock some of the world’s largest lithium resources in Bolivia. An estimated 23 million metric tons of lithium lie in the country’s Uyuni, Coipasa, Empexa and Pastos Grandes salt fields, accounting for about 22 percent of the known global supply.
It is clear that the government is very keen to develop these assets as lithium prices are back up to date and present a major new opportunity for the Bolivian economy.
Cosmos locked in an option to fully absorb EAU into the company’s broader portfolio of lithium projects in December, and its shares have more than doubled this week.
With lithium prices doubling in recent months, landing in the Lithium Triangle and being parked right in the middle of South America’s saltwater wealth is paying early dividends for Cosmos.
KING RIVER RESOURCES LTD (ASX: KRR)
56% increase (2.3c – 3.6c)
Rounding out our runners is gold-locked junior King River Resources, which is dusting off its newest Mindoolah gold project 70 kilometers northwest of Cue in Western Australia’s Murchison belt (a region that has shed more than 35 million ounces).
Historic mining at Mindoolah dates back to the early 1900s and yields an eye-catching average grade of 19.02 grams per tonne (g/t) for more than 5,700 ounces of gold.
At that time, miners were hampered by water and depth and were extracting logs about 20 meters high. They barely scratched the surface of what today’s rigs and algorithms are designed to chase.
The ground consists of approximately 100 square kilometers of probable greenstone, most of it under shallow cover and largely ignored.
The management considers that the true source of the ancient high-grade reefs has never been subjected to modern geophysics, highly sensitive soils or systematic drilling, meaning there is plenty in the tank.
There’s no shortage of targets walking along with the strike of gold in rock fragments and quartz veins from ancient Mindoolah pits.
Drilling at Excelsior in the 1980s was hidden under historic works, with 4 m breaking at 9.3 g/t from 33 meters and 4 m breaking 8.85 g/t from 32 m. The veins did not stop where they stood in ancient times.
The new addition complements King River’s gold holdings at Remarkable Mountain in the Kimberley and Tennant Creek property in the Northern Territory, where gold and copper exploration continues.
Mindoolah has the feel of an age-old revival game; With modern gadgets and the ridiculous price of gold, this precious jewel will become dusty.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
